High School Choice Research Articles

대구 중학생의 고등학교 유형 선택 결정 요인

대구 중학생의 고등학교 유형 선택 결정 요인

Privatization and school practices: Evidence from Seoul’s high school choice policy

In Korea, private schools are publicly operated due to a high level of governmental control and subsidy over them. However, with the start of a high school choice program in 2010, the Seoul Local Education Authority privatized a significant proportion of publicly-run private schools by granting them greater autonomy over school operations and curriculum and by making their budget depend on their student enrollments. This study examines how private high schools changed their practices in expenditures, curriculum, and personnel after they became privatized. Evidence suggests that privatization significantly increases schools’ per-pupil expenditures, especially for academic activities. In addition, findings indicate that privatization increases schools’ instructional time for Korean and math while reducing time for social studies. Finally, findings suggest that, on average, schools hire teachers with fewer years of teaching experience after they became privatized.

Family networks and school choice

This paper uses variation in school assignments generated by Mexico City's public high school choice mechanism to document a strong causal influence of older siblings on their younger siblings' school choice behavior. The effects of older sibling admission on the probabilities of choosing both the sibling's school and distinct but observably similar schools are large and positive, even when siblings are too far apart in age to attend school together. The evidence is more consistent with information transmission and path dependence channels than cost, convenience, sibling competition, or parental pressure. Sibling-induced changes in stated preferences affect admissions outcomes, including assignment to elite schools. The results imply significant externalities from policies such as affirmative action that alter the distribution of school assignments, as well as providing insight into the role of family networks in decision-making regarding educational investments.

Goals and Gaps: Educational Careers of Immigrant Children

We study the educational choices of children of immigrants in a tracked school system. We first show that immigrants in Italy enroll disproportionately into vocational high schools, as opposed to technical and academically-oriented high schools, compared to natives of similar ability. The gap is greater for male students and it mirrors an analogous differential in grade retention. We then estimate the impact of a large-scale, randomized intervention providing tutoring and career counseling to high-ability immigrant students. Male treated students increase their probability of enrolling into the high track to the same level of natives, also closing the gap in terms of grade retention. There are no significant effects on immigrant girls, who exhibit similar choices and performance as native ones in absence of the intervention. Increases in academic motivation and changes in teachers’ recommendation regarding high school choice explain a sizable portion of the effect, while the effect of increases in cognitive skills is negligible. Finally, we find positive spillovers on immigrant classmates of treated students, while there is no effect on native classmates.

Does the Girl Next Door Affect Your Academic Outcomes and Career Choices?

Gender peer effects are potentially important for optimally organizing schools and neighborhoods. In this paper, we examine how the gender of classmates and neighbors affects a variety of high school outcomes and choice of university major. Given that students are assigned to schools based on proximity from their residential address, we define as neighbors all same-cohort peers who attend any other school within a 1-mile radius of one's school. To control for potentially confounding unobserved characteristics of schools and neighborhoods that might be correlated with peer gender composition, we exploit within-school and -neighborhood idiosyncratic variation in gender composition share across consecutive cohorts in the 12th grade. Using data for the universe of students in public schools in Greece between 2004 and 2009, we find that a higher share of females in a school or neighborhood improves both genders' subsequent scholastic performance, increases their university matriculation rates, renders them more likely to enroll in an academic university than a technical school, and affects their choice of university study. In addition, we find that only females are more likely to enroll in STEM degrees and target more lucrative occupations when they have more female peers in school or neighborhood. Based on our back-of-the-envelope calculations, a 10 percentage point increase in the proportion of females in a school or neighborhood reduces the gender gap in STEM enrollments by 2% and 3%, respectively. We also find that (1) neighborhood peer effects are as large as school peer effects, and (2) the effects are nonlinear-namely, the effects are larger for school and neighborhood cohorts with a large majority of female peers.

Surviving at the Street Level: How Counselors’ Implementation of School Choice Policy Shapes Students’ High School Destinations

Given the dominance of residentially based school assignment, prior researchers have conceptualized K–12 enrollment decisions as beyond the purview of school actors. This paper questions the continued relevance of this assumption by studying the behavior of guidance counselors charged with implementing New York City’s universal high school choice policy. Drawing on structured interviews with 88 middle school counselors and administrative data on choice outcomes at these middle schools, we find that counselors generally believe lower-income students are on their own in making high school choices and need additional adult support. However, they largely refrain from giving action-guiding advice to students about which schools to attend. We elaborate street-level bureaucracy theory by showing how the majority of counselors reduce cognitive dissonance between their understanding of students’ needs and their inability to meet these needs adequately given existing resources. They do so by drawing selectively on competing policy logics of school choice, narrowly delineating their conception of their role, and relegating decisions to parents. Importantly, we also find departures from the predictions of this theory as approximately one in four counselors sought to meet the needs of individual students by enlarging their role despite the resource constraints they faced. Finally, we quantify the impact of variation in counselors’ approaches, finding that the absence of action-guiding advice is associated with students being admitted to lower-quality schools, on average.

The effects of school choice on achievement gaps between private and public high schools: Evidence from the Seoul high school choice program

In 2010, Seoul began a universal school choice program for high schools. The implementation of school choice introduced autonomy, competition, and sorting, barely existent when public and private schools were under strong governmental control. Using school-level panel data, this study investigated how a newly introduced school choice policy affected achievement gaps between private and public high schools. We found evidence that competition and autonomy have minimal impacts on the achievement of private and public high schools. However, we found that student sorting did significantly increase the achievements of private high schools, widening existing gaps between public high schools.

High School Choices and the Gender Gap in STEM

Women who graduate from university are less likely than men to specialize in science, technology, engineering, or math (STEM). We use detailed administrative data for a recent cohort of high school students in Ontario, Canada, combined with data from the province's university admission system to analyze the dynamic process leading to this gap. We show that entry to STEM programs is mediated through an index of STEM readiness based on end-of-high-school courses in math and science. Most of the gender gap in STEM entry can be traced to differences in the rate of STEM readiness; less than a fifth is due to differences in the choice of major conditional on readiness. We then use high school course data to decompose the gap in STEM readiness among university entrants into two channels: one reflecting the gender gap in the fraction of high school students with the necessary prerequisites to enter STEM, and a second arising from differences in the fractions of females and males who enter university. The gender gap in the fraction of students with STEM prerequisites is small. The main factor is the lower university entry rate by men -- a difference that is due to the lower fraction of non-science oriented males who complete enough advanced level courses to qualify for university entry. We conclude that differences in course-taking patterns and preferences for STEM conditional on readiness contribute to male-female differences in the rate of entering STEM, but that the main source of the gap is the lower overall rate of university attendance by men.

High School Human Capital Portfolio and College Outcomes

This paper assesses the relationship between courses taken in high school and college major choice. It considers individuals as holding a portfolio of relative human capital rates that may be either similar to those in their major—specialized—or different from those in their major—diversified. Using High School and Beyond survey data, I find a U-shaped relationship between the diversification of the high school courses portfolio and college performance. Policy experiments, using a structural model, suggest that taking an additional quantitative course in high school increases the probability that a college student chooses a STEM major by 4 percentage points.

School Entry, Compulsory Schooling, and Human Capital Accumulation: Evidence from Michigan

Abstract Extant research on school entry and compulsory schooling laws finds that these policies increase the high school graduation rate of relatively younger students, but weaken their academic performance in early grades. In this paper, we explore the evolution of postsecondary impacts of the interaction of school entry and compulsory schooling laws in Michigan. We employ a regression-discontinuity (RD) design using longitudinal administrative data to examine effects on high school performance, college enrollment, choice, and persistence. On average, we find that children eligible to start school at a relatively younger age are more likely to complete high school, but underperform while enrolled, compared to their counterparts eligible to start school at a relatively older age. In turn, these students are 2 percentage points more likely to first attend a two-year college and enroll in fewer total postsecondary semesters, relative to their older counterparts. We explore heterogeneity in these effects across subgroups of students defined by gender and poverty status. For example, we illustrate that the increase in the high school graduation rate of relatively younger students attributable to the combination of school entry and compulsory schooling laws is driven entirely by impacts on economically disadvantaged students.

Pengaruh layanan informasi peminatan terhadap kemantapan pilihan sekolah lanjutan

The research is analyzing the effect of the Study Program Selection information services to the students in SMPN 2 Maros? (ii) How is the analysis result of the students choices in the implementation of Study Program Selection information to the consistency of high school choice made by the students of SMPN 2 Maros before and after the services? (iii) Whether or not the service influences the students’ choices in selecting schools? The result of the research shows that (i) the implementation of Study Program Selection information ran effectively and resulted positive responses from the students; (ii) The analysis result of the students consistency of high school choice made by the students before giving the information was averagely low, however the result analysis after giving information was high; (iii) the inferensial statistic analysis result shows the positive effect of the implementation of Study Program Selection information the consistency of high school choice made by the students of SMPN 2 Maros.

Motives of choice of high school and the profession of modern youth (on the example of Ugra state University’s freshmen)

The article touches upon the motives of choice of high school and the profession. In the sociological research it was revealed that in most cases the choice of profession takes place superficially, without adequate representation of the work. That is why it is necessary to adjust the system of career guidance.

Job-major match and job satisfaction in Italy

Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to study how graduates’ jobs may be determined by their educational performances and social background. In particular, the authors investigate job-education mismatch and job satisfaction to evaluate whether time spent and effort exerted during university studies were compensated with a good job.Design/methodology/approach– Data on the occupational status of the graduates 36 months after graduation, collected by the Padua University on its graduates, are analysed by means of univariate and multivariate methodologies. In particular, the pathways from graduates’ social capital to job satisfaction are investigated through a structural equation modelling approach.Findings– The authors find that a minority of graduates can be considered as overeducated when considering the requirements of the labour market, but many graduates state that any degree would suffice for their job. Multivariate analyses show that graduates’ job quality is related to their university choice and outcome, high school choice and performance, social capital. Destiny is written from the beginning of the educational pathway, but students can affect their labour market future with an appropriate choice of university programme.Originality/value– The qualified point of this paper lies on the complexity of the model adopted for the analysis and its ability to highlight direct and indirect effects: two job outcomes (job-major match and job satisfaction) are the variables of interest, analysed within a structural model covering all educational stages of the Italian educational pathway, from parental social background to university degree.

Supporting the STEM Pipeline: Linking Applied STEM Course-Taking in High School to Declaring a STEM Major in College

Recently, through the support from the Obama administration, the traditional STEM curricula (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) in high schools are being updated with integrated, applied STEM courses (e.g., technology and engineering) in order to enhance the “real world” applicability of scientific fields and ultimately to strengthen the link between what students learn in high school and college major choice. Using longitudinal survey and transcript data, this study examines whether taking these applied STEM courses in high school can predict higher odds of declaring a STEM major in college. The findings reveal that taking applied STEM courses in high school is associated with a higher probability of declaring a STEM college major for four-year students. Moreover, applied STEM course-taking is highly predictive of declaring an applied STEM major. Implications are discussed.

School Entry, Compulsory Schooling, and Human Capital Accumulation: Evidence from Michigan

Extant research on school entry and compulsory schooling laws finds that these policies increase the high school graduation rate of relatively younger students, but weaken their academic performance in early grades. In this paper, we explore the evolution of postsecondary impacts of the interaction of school entry and compulsory schooling laws in Michigan. We employ a regression-discontinuity (RD) design using longitudinal administrative data to examine effects on high school performance, college enrollment, choice, and persistence. On average, we find that children eligible to start school at a relatively younger age are more likely to complete high school, but underperform while enrolled, compared to their counterparts eligible to start school at a relatively older age. In turn, these students are 2 percentage points more likely to first attend a two-year college, and enroll in fewer postsecondary semesters, relative to their older counterparts. We explore heterogeneity in these effects across subgroups of students defined by gender and poverty status. For example, we illustrate that the increase in the high school graduation rate of relatively younger students attributable to the combination of school entry and compulsory schooling laws is driven entirely by impacts on economically disadvantaged students.

Exploring the Factors Affecting Career Decision and of Students of Vocational High School and Middle School Students’ Choice of Vocational High School

Exploring the Factors Affecting Career Decision and of Students of Vocational High School and Middle School Students’ Choice of Vocational High School

Costs, Security and Discipline: Gendering the Debate on School Choice in India

There is growing evidence of expansion of public and private schools in India. The notional increase in parental choice of schools which is presumed to accompany the expansion has received mixed responses in academic and development research. While some have celebrated the increase in options available to parents, others have critiqued the framing of the issue and highlighted the structural inequalities which continue to influence educational access in India. However, both these kinds of research have been found deficient in their attention to the gender discourses which shape educational decisions in family settings in India. The present article argues for a gender sensitive understanding of the issue by locating school choice in the multi-lingual and multi-religious context of rural Assam. A close analysis of interviews with students, family members and teachers suggest that educational choices exercised in these working class families are connected with issues of marriage, work and gendered norms of conduct. Apart from considerations of costs, gendered ideas of school proximity, security and discipline are of prime significance in their choice of high school for children and particularly for daughters.

Unaccompanied Minors: How Children of Latin American Immigrants Negotiate High School Choice

The compatibility of school choice policies and educational equity goals is one of the most hotly debated issues in education today. Yet, despite the growing population of children of immigrants in US schools, limited research exists on the relationship between parental nativity and participation in school choice from an equity perspective. This article explores the tensions and alignment between school choice and equity through an examination of children of Latin American immigrants’ search for and decisions about high schools in the context of a compulsory choice policy. Drawing on nearly 2 years of ethnographic data collected at one New York City public middle school and interviews with 26 first- and second-generation children of low-income immigrants from across Latin America and the Spanish-speaking Caribbean, I illuminate some of challenges that Latino immigrant-origin students faced in understanding how to select appropriate, quality high schools. Using these findings, I analyze the ways in which the design and implementation of New York City’s mandatory high school choice policy hindered its equity potential and offer recommendations for its improvement.

Stuck in School: How Social Context Shapes School Choice for Inner-City Students

BackgroundHigh school choice policies attempt to improve the educational outcomes of poor and minority students by allowing access to high school beyond neighborhood boundaries. These policies assume that given a choice, families will be able to select a school that supports their child's learning and promotes educational attainment. However, research on the effects of public school choice programs on the academic achievement of disadvantaged students is mixed, suggesting that families do not necessarily respond to these programs in ways that policymakers intend.PurposeThe purpose of this article is to identify how family and neighborhood contexts interact with public school choice policies to shape the educational opportunities of inner-city students. Specifically, we ask: What criteria are used to choose schools? What are the implications of these school choice decisions for students’ future educational and occupational opportunities?Research DesignWe use data from interviews and fieldwork conducted with 118 low-income African American youth ages 15–24 who attended Baltimore City Public Schools at some point during their high school career. Research on school choice tends to rely on data from parents, and we offer a unique contribution by asking youth themselves about their experiences with school choice.ConclusionsAlthough school choice policies assume that parents will guide youths’ decision about where to go to high school, the majority of youth in our sample were the primary decision makers in the high school choice process. Additionally, these youth made these choices under considerable constraints imposed by the district policy and by their family, peers, and academic background. As a result, the youth often selected a school within a very limited choice set and chose schools that did not necessarily maximize their educational opportunity. Our results demonstrate that school choice policies must take into account the social context in which educational decisions are made in order to maximize chances for students’ individual academic achievement and to decrease inequality by race and social class.

Two Roads Diverged: Exploring Variation in Students’ School Choice Experiences by Socioeconomic Status, Parental Nativity, and Ethnicity

This article examines the high school search activities, choices, and final assignments of academically similar, but ethnically and socioeconomically different, eighth-grade students attending one New York City middle school. Despite being comparable candidates for admission to academically competitive high schools, the middle-class children of Asian immigrants were significantly more likely than the children of lower-income Latin American immigrants to be assigned to the highest performing schools. Interviews with 15 students revealed systematic differences in their knowledge, resources, and engagement in high school choice that help explain the disparity in the academic quality of their high school assignments.